Who are we
John has clinical experience in a variety of mental health settings including psychiatric intensive care (PICU) and older adult in-patient services in London and Brighton. Between 2003 and 2014 he worked supporting nurse mentors and students in clinical practice across adult, child and mental health fields. From 2014 he was the Education Lead for a Community NHS Trust providing adult/ child services. John joined the University of Brighton in 2016 as a Senior Lecturer.
His main areas of focus in the University are dementia, ethics, psychosocial studies and leadership. He is also the Time for Dementia Lead in year 1 and 2 of the nursing course in partnership with the Alzheimer’s Society to give student’s perspectives of both the person living with dementia and their carer on the impact the dementia is having on their personal and social wellbeing. In 2022 he took on the role of Admission Tutor for Mental health student nurse recruitment and has been Joint Course Leader for Mental health nursing since Feb 2024.
John has a real passion for engaging with students across different health professions including nursing, paramedics and radiographers to use the lived experience of the person with dementia to inform the students own practice, moving beyond the diagnosis to provide person-centred care with a focus on kindness.
Warren is a Principle Lecturer within the BSc (Hons) Mental Health Nursing team, in the School of Sport and Health Sciences, at the UoB. His clinical experience includes mental health nursing in the Royal Navy, acute services (NHS) and nursing and health care management in prison settings. He previously worked at London South Bank University (2004-12), completing a sequence of p/t secondments between the university and various health and justice organisations, focusing on workforce and educational projects. Within this role he managed the ‘NVQ3 Custodial Health Care’, subsequently developed and led the ‘FdSc Offender Care’, mental health awareness training for the HMPPS + West Midlands probation service and led national work on the development of peer care in prisons.
At the University of Brighton (2012-current), he co-led the mental health nursing team and led recruitment for the field between 2013-2018. In 2014 Warren undertook a Prof Doc in Education focusing on educational approaches to supporting peer carers for older and disabled detainees in UK prisons. Other research outputs include systematic reviews on interventions to reduce staff burnout in secure health settings and methods of supporting resilience for older people in prisons. Warren teaches on several programmes, e.g., BSc (Hons) Nursing; Foundation Degree – Health and Social Care; Post-Graduate courses and Leading Practice Education programmes. He contributes to the School Standards and Quality Committee, the External Examiner’s sub-committee, reviews Tier 1 ethics applications, and is an external examiner for the University of Manchester.
Jamie Komeh
Jamie is a senior lecturer in Mental Health Nursing at the University of Brighton and he is a Registered Mental Health Nurse. He trained in Keele University, Stoke-on-Trent and has experience of nearly 18 years working in various roles in the National Health (NHS) Service before becoming a lecturer. Jamie has experience working in crisis mental health; adult and older people in-patients and mental health liaison and home treatment teams. He has an interest in people development and as a clinician was at the forefront of teaching learners in the clinical area and in the local universities as well as working in partnership with others to identify the most effective and meaningful forms of support. He promotes innovative and creative way to enhance learning. Jamie has been Joint Course Leader for Mental health nursing since Feb 2024.
Dr Michael Huggett
Michael is a Registered Mental Health Nurse and Mental Health Lecturer at the University of Brighton. As a nurse, he’s specialised in working with adult survivors of childhood trauma in the form of sexual abuse, violence and neglect, a focus that has seen him working within contexts such as Therapeutic Communities, Family Drug and Alcohol Court settings, and Specialist Family Services. He has also specialised in the assessment and treatment of those that may pose a sexual risk to children including the little understood area of female sexual offending.
He has a particular interest in critical approaches to the diagnosis of Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder (EUPD) and the impact of the wider political economy on constructions of mental health, treatment, and recovery. Michael also has an interest in community and psychotherapy, completing a diploma in relation to this with the Philadelphia Association, a UK charity established by R. D. Laing and colleagues in 1965 to explore and challenge entrenched ideas around responding to human distress and mental suffering.
Prior to his mental health training with Brighton University, Michael studied philosophy with the University of Hertfordshire and University of London, specialising in the Philosophy of Religion and having a particular interest in the psychology of religion, mental health, and distress.
Barbara Vincent
Having loved the time spent caring for older people during a year’s stint working in a less than caring nursing home as a care assistant, Barbara qualified as a Mental Health Nurse in 1985. Barbara went on to work in various nursing roles from Primary Nurse to Senior Clinical Nurse (the forerunner to the Modern Matron role) in inpatient services for older people with mental health needs in Brighton, Haywards Heath, the Maudsley Hospital, London and finally in Hastings.
In 2007 she was offered the opportunity to work in a practice development role in older people’s mental health services across Sussex going on to lead a team of nurses and a psychologist. It was during this time that she saw the need for a specialist PMVA (preventing and managing violence and aggression) course for nurses working with people with dementia. She subsequently trained as a PMVA Tutor and developed a specialist course working closely with the PMVA lead for Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, presenting the work at conferences both in Amsterdam and Prague.
Having enjoyed the teaching of PMVA, Barbara went on to complete her MSc. in Clinical Studies with Education, which included the PGCHSCE (Post Graduate Certificate in Health and Social Care Education)
In 2010 Barbara was appointed to the role of Nurse Consultant for Specialist Older Adults Mental Health across Sussex and worked on developing specialist nursing knowledge of mental health needs of older people and in particular the risks associated with older age, adding this knowledge to the Trust’s risk assessment tool.
With the reorganisation of service provision in Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust to providing ageless adult mental health services, Barbara’s role was changed to that of Lead Nurse for Adult Mental Health services in East Sussex in 2015. This provided Barbara with an opportunity to work with nurses across East Sussex to develop an understanding of what it means to be a mental health nurse and what we bring to the care of people suffering mental distress. It was in carrying out this work, inspired by the time she spent working in nursing teams, that Barbara decided to make the move to nursing education.
In 2018 Barbara retired from her NHS role and joined the University of Brighton as a Senior Lecturer. She has thoroughly enjoyed the last 2 years here at Brighton and feels honoured and privileged to be able to contribute to the development of our future mental health nurses.
Athena Christoforou
Athena is a lecturer in Mental Health Nursing and has worked within the nursing school since the late 80’s. Prior to this she studied Anthropology and Ancient History at University College London. Athena’s interests include co-constructing mental health nurse education with service users and experts through experience. She was a founder member of the CUSER (Care and Service User group) who worked throughout the 1980’s, 1990’s until 2018 to use experience to inform the mental health nursing curriculum at the University of Brighton. Athena is a passionate mental health campaigner who maintains links throughout the voluntary sector and community in Brighton and Hove.
Dave Hearn
Dave Hearn is a Lecturer in the Mental Health Nursing team at the University of Brighton. A Registered Mental Health Nurse, Dave’s clinical experience centred around Psychiatric Intensive Care and Forensic services (both in secure settings and the community). Latterly, Dave specialised in Security and Risk Management undertaking an MSc in this area and leading on Security across a range of services in South London. He taught structured risk assessment tools and management of violence and has several publications related to risk management.
Having undertaken a Darzi Fellowship, Dave went on to work at Health Education England (then NHS England). Specialising in workforce transformation, Dave worked with Provider organisations, Universities and Integrated Care Boards across the South East. He supported the establishment of a number of fellowship schemes, the development of the Psychological Professions Network, NIHR ICAP research internships, a Mental Health workforce programme, and the Student Councils programme with the Florence Nightingale Foundation.
Dave is currently undertaking a PhD, using qualitative methodologies to explore and better understand why nurses stay in or leave their roles in health and care.
Dr Michael Maelzer
Having worked as a pharmacist in various community settings for 5 years I joined the University as a lecturer of pharmacology and all things pharmacy as a member of the independent prescribing course in September 2019. This allowed me to indulge in my interest for all things pharmacology, how drugs work, how can we minimise side effects and most importantly how to optimise drug therapy in conjunction with a holistic treatment approach to improve the quality of life of our patients. During my time working in community, I worked with a wide variety of patients that had mental health needs, from children that were diagnosed with learning difficulties to patients suffering from addiction. My forte is to counsel and explain the drug treatments to patients, parents and carers, as well as keeping an eye on possible interaction or side effects that they might be experiencing. Helping patients to get a better understanding of their pharmaceutical treatment and its pros and cons is something that I believe can help with their recovery.
Jamie Cooper
Jamie qualified and registered as a mental health nurse in 1987 and then as an adult nurse in 1993. His nursing career has included working in acute mental health; postnatal mother and baby mental health care, sexual health and infectious diseases in Sheffield and York (England), intensive care in Huddersfield (England), triaging with the Yorkshire Ambulance Service and primary care nursing He has spent over 10 years working in New Zealand which has included roles in forensic, adult mental health care, medical & infectious diseases, and leading a 24 hours care facility for those living with HIV and AIDS. Jamie’s passion for the integration of physical, mental health alongside his wealth of practice experience brings with it a Senior Lecturer who creates meaningful simulation opportunities for students of all fields of nursing. His additional training and active participation in the Irish, English, and New Zealand playing of folk music enhances his nursing work and teaching creating bridges between physical, emotional, and mental health.
